Top 20 Biglaw Firm Delights With Associate Raises

They're not going to leave associates hanging.

Rich businessman with gold and money mountain on city backgroundFor the most profitable and biggest in Biglaw it is only a matter of time until they raise associate salaries. Once Cravath showed their hand earlier this week, if you want to recruit and retain elite legal talent, you have to respond to the new market standard on compensation.

With $2,150,365,000 in gross revenue last year making it #15 on the Am Law 100 ranking, Simpson Thacher is definitely elite. And now they’re paying associates like it.

New compensation grid at Simpson is as follows, effective January 1:

Class Year 2024 Annual Salary
Class of 2023   $225,000
Class of 2022 $235,000
Class of 2021 $260,000
Class of 2020 $310,000
Class of 2019 $365,000
Class of 2018 $390,000
Class of 2017 $420,000
Class of 2016 $435,000

Plus bonuses news, also up to the market standard.

Class Year Year-End Bonus
Class of 2023 $15,000 (prorated)
Class of 2022 $20,000
Class of 2021 $30,000
Class of 2020 $57,500
Class of 2019 $75,000
Class of 2018 $90,000
Class of 2017 $105,000
Class of 2016  $115,000

Bonuses will be paid on December 29th.

You can read the full memo on the next page.

Remember everyone, we depend on your tips to stay on top of important bonus updates, so when your firm matches, please text us (646-820-8477) or email us (subject line: “[Firm Name] Matches”). Please include the memo if available. You can take a photo of the memo and send it via text or email if you don’t want to forward the original PDF or Word file.

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Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.


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